From the Streets to the Senate: A Brief History of Hip-Hop and Politics

Most people know Meek Mill as the rap artist behind the inspirational anthem “Dreams and Nightmares.” Lesser known is Meek Mill’s personal life, one full of endeavors intertwined with politics: he was pardoned by former Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf for firearms and drugs charges; leads the REFORM alliance, advocating for comprehensive reforms in the criminal justice system; and shares a lawyer with Donald Trump, who represented the former President in his New York hush payments case. 

Since its inception in 1980, hip-hop has been inseparable from the realm of politics. From controversial N.W.A. songs that sparked outcries against police brutality, Public Enemy’s overtly politicized albums that denounced the government, to profound tracks such as “Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free)” by Lupe Fiasco and “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar, hip-hop has long been a popular medium for social movements to uplift the oppressed. Even in the face of threats and backlash, rappers have never shied away from acerbic lyricism in the lengthy struggle for systemic change, and hip-hop’s significance in society should never be understated. It is no surprise, then, that Tupac’s iconic protest anthem “Changes” is still played today in rallies across the U.S., despite the fact that it was released more than 25 years ago.

Whereas the ‘90s was the golden age of conscious hip-hop and involved countless artists using it as a major platform to freely express political discourse, hip-hop’s connection with activism reached new heights with the case of Meek Mill. From 2007 to 2019, Meek Mill was in and out of prison for “technical probation charges” despite being wrongfully arrested and having never committed a crime. The incarceration story of Meek Mill was a mere microcosm of how discriminatory the criminal justice system is in the U.S., prompting protests to erupt across the nation in solidarity with the rapper. After being freed from prison, Meek Mill co-founded the REFORM Alliance with other prominent hip-hop figures, such as Jay-Z, and continued his fight against arcane practices in probation and parole with much success. REFORM helped pass legislation in California, Michigan, and several other states to correct unfair practices and decrease recidivism rates in the prison system.

There is, however, a grand irony that lies within all of hip-hop’s entanglements with politics. While hip-hop artists are conventionally known for their more liberal social commentary (such as being anti-police or anti-government), some of the notable stories regarding rappers in the past decade have involved Republican politicians, a group typically associated with conservative “law and order” ideologies. Nevertheless, some members of the hip-hop community will forever hail Trump as the President who pardoned fan favorites such as Lil’ Wayne and Kodak Black. Indeed, in order to bring New York native A$AP Rocky back to the U.S. after the rapper was detained following a physical altercation in Stockholm, Trump almost threatened to embark on a trade war against Sweden.

This trend spills over into other areas. Since late 2019, Canadian rapper Tom MacDonald has released numerous anti-liberal albums and songs like “Straight White Male,” to much acclaim amongst hardcore conservatives in the U.S. and accumulating millions of views on YouTube. Building on his commercial success, MacDonald partnered with American rapper Adam Calhoun to continue his agenda with releases such as “The Brave,” an album dedicated to bashing “woke” movements in the status quo. The wave does not stop there either, with “Let’s Go Brandon” amongst other conservative rap songs frequently going viral and inserting themselves onto the Billboard charts.

A deep probe into this current phenomenon yields an intriguing conclusion. With the stereotypical “country music boomer” becoming a dying breed in this generation, Republicans are increasingly turning to hip-hop, a historically anti-establishment genre, to galvanize their voter base. “Right-wing protest rap” has ironically emerged as a standout of this generation, and its conception is actually quite logical. With former Fox commentator Geraldo Rivera claiming that hip-hop had “done more damage to African American youth than racism in recent years” as recently as 2015, no one could have ever imagined the Republican party harnessing hip-hop as a way to communicate with its constituents. However, the move seems necessary in an epoch where the vast majority of news outlets and social media platforms are riddled with rules favoring Democrats. Coupled with the fact that young people are more likely to be liberal, the utilization of rap music seems like a hopeful, strategic gesture for Republicans to rejuvenate their party and assemble another Red Wave.

The outlook for hip-hop in the political landscape only seems to expand day by day. Compounded with the relaxation of censorship by institutions like the Federal Communications Commission, rappers remain unequivocally vocal about social and political issues in their songs in the new millennium. In the modern era, hip-hop has not only survived as a niche vehicle for liberal change, but it has actually grown to play a significant role in ongoing events. The powerful rap songs that united people at Black Lives Matter demonstrations during the first few years of this decade are emblematic of this effect, though simultaneously we also must not neglect how hip-hop has manifested itself into a conservative tool in recent years. In fact, with Joe Biden using “Lose Yourself” on a campaign ad two days before election day, and Republican rising star Vivek Ramaswamy rapping along to Eminem songs to fire up the crowd at his rallies, it is clear that the once-ostracized culture of hip-hop has finally cemented a spot amongst the suits and ties of D.C.

Leo Huang ’26 studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at l.yulil@wustl.edu.